Short Interest in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) Expands By 22.3%

Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,480,000 shares, an increase of 22.3% from the January 31st total of 1,210,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 265,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.6 days. Currently, 4.6% of the company's shares are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Matson news, SVP Richard S. Kinney sold 1,997 shares of Matson stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.11, for a total value of $273,808.67. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,425 shares in the company, valued at $1,155,151.75. This trade represents a 19.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP John P. Lauer sold 7,985 shares of Matson stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.73, for a total transaction of $1,075,819.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 25,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,394,118.16. This trade represents a 24.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.32% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in Matson by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,766 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $238,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Matson by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 16,217 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $2,313,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Matson by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 16,645 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $2,244,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Matson by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 586 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the period. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Matson by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 2,972 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $401,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. 84.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MATX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Matson from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Stephens raised their target price on shares of Matson from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Matson from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th.

Matson Stock Down 0.2 %

Matson stock traded down $0.22 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $133.02. 383,471 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 293,043. Matson has a 1 year low of $100.50 and a 1 year high of $169.12. The firm has a market cap of $4.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.07 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $139.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $141.49.

Matson (NYSE:MATX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The shipping company reported $3.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.60. Matson had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 16.89%. The firm had revenue of $890.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $851.78 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Matson will post 13.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Matson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 6th. Matson's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.69%.

About Matson

Matson, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of ocean transportation and logistics services. It operates through two segments, Ocean Transportation and Logistics. The Ocean Transportation segment offers ocean freight transportation services to the domestic non-contiguous economies of Hawaii, Japan, Alaska, and Guam, as well as to other island economies in Micronesia.